Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said Monday the NIA taking over the case of a vehicle laden with explosives being found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai suggests something was ‘fishy’. Uddhav Thackeray said governments come and go. However, the official administrative machinery remains the same and one needs to trust it. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the case Monday following orders from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The agency is in the process of re-registering the case, said a NIA the spokesperson.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh earlier said in the Assembly that state police were capable of solving the case of auto parts dealer Mansukh Hiran’s death and the recovery of the explosives-laden car near Ambani’s residence. Hiran, the purported owner of the vehicle, was found dead Friday in a creek in neighbouring Thane.
“We had handed over the case of the vehicle laden with explosives and the mysterious death of Mansukh Hiren to the ATS. The NIA taking over the case shows something was fishy,” Thackeray told reporters.
The ATS will continue to conduct its probe into Hiren’s death, the CM said. He said the opposition does not have faith in the state machinery and wanted to show it doesn’t function. “If that is so, why is it demanding that the Maharashtra government reduce taxes on fuel?” Thackeray asked.
Thackeray also said the state police will conduct probe into the alleged suicide of Lok Sabha member Mohan Delkar and punish the guilty. Delkar (58), a seven-term MP from the Dadra and Nagar Haveli Union Territory, was found dead at a hotel on Marine Drive, February 22.
Also read: NIA takes over case of vehicle laden with explosives found near Mukesh Ambani’s home
“A Union Territory is governed by the Centre. We will take the case to its logical end. I wonder how the opposition here is quiet on the issue of the seven-term MP ending his life,” Thackeray said.